This is dedicated to those of you who watched the show.
The Smithsonian Institute, November 9th, 1997, 5:30AM EST
Xander smiled as he reached the just-arriving Willow in a taxi. The young man tossed his heavily-outfitted backpack and duffle into the trunk and got in back.
"Where to?" asked the cabby, not particularly suspicious of anything.
"Airport, please," Alexander Lambert replied, smiling at his Willow. They quietly rode the short trip to the airport, where an eight o'clock direct flight to Los Angeles would carry them almost home in no time.
Getting out of the car, the two smiled as they reentered the place almost twenty hours after arriving; they'd crammed a whole day of tourist activities and ducking over to buy expensive coffee from vendor stands. Willow's eyes smiled even when she wasn't, and Alexander knew deep inside the feeling of contentment of having made her happy. She'd had her hair braided back and long, and had increased her wardrobe enough to where at worst she'd only look nice, and at best Xander's breath was taken away.
"So what did he send you," she smiled, "other than the obvious camping gear?"
"You mean that isn't enough?" he smarted back, then when he was sure they weren't being listened to, "civilian body armor, a bunch of databases, parts for powered and unpowered exoskeletons used by their military and heavy police units, and holographic equipment of some kind as well as parts I haven't had the time to research. I think a few more 'car alarms' are also in here."
"Cool, now you can start training me so I can back you up if necessary," Willow considered seriously, "especially the Mash-Ti stuff."
"Sounds like a good plan," Xander agreed with a small but happy smile, "and with all of the extra time we have by owning the shop, we can practice whenever we're not keeping up with the business or on a case."
"So, did Darien send you a letter or anything?"
"Yeah, he did, it covered a lot of what it had meant to be a cop, to live in and appreciate our time. He sends you his best and hopes you remember him. He was a good man, Willow, one I'm glad to have crossed paths with…even if my vocabulary is much improved."
They shared a smile and a laugh as they tagged the new baggage and checked it in at the counter. Though early in the morning, they found a 'Roy Rogers' franchise open so they scrounged a breakfast feast of sorts, and continued to just talk about Sunnydale, what they might do to make a difference, and how they could use their skills to make a good life. Instead of a game of 'anywhere but here' it was a good 'can do' planning session, then as they boarded the plane, the two happily quieted and prepared to nap during their flight.
November 9th, 1997, 9:30 AM PST
The two young people drove back into town and pulled to Willow's house to find her parents were actually at home for a change.
"Wanna come in and say hi or something?" the red head asked, curling her hair behind her ear as she looked over at him, "It might not hurt and all, with all the changes in less than a week…show them the grown up happy us?"
"Alright," he smiled at her, looking into her eyes as he parked the car, "let's go meet the 'rents."
"That 'lingo' so doesn't work with the new and improved you…" she laughed as they alighted and headed in.
November 9th, 1997, High Noon
The young entrepreneurial couple entered their store just as it was due to open; by unspoken agreement Alexander would fully examine and test the materiel while his redhead girlfriend would tend to the customers.
The late breakfast at Willow's folks had actually gone quite well; in their own way the two parental figures had apparently concluded that it was their intelligent raising of Willow that had led their daughter to such an amazing start into adult life. Noticing the respectable attire of Alexander, whom they hadn't actually seen in some time, had definitely reassured them; gone was the lovable teen and in his place a solid young man with his head on his shoulders, and the maturity to court their little girl.
Alexander carefully unpacked, laying the contents across the floor of the back room so he could take in the entirety of his new inventory. He brought Selma out, and she thoroughly scanned everything to identify, assimilate or warn as the case might be.
Darien had sent back a dozen 'car alarm remotes on key chains,' four sets of full late 22nd century body armor, four jumpsuits that doubled as environmental and anti-ballistic protection, two exoskeletons-crash frames with power units as well as hydraulics, a stack of picture frames which contained a surprisingly large number of informational databases regarding real estate, police and forensics technology, criminal databases, business and tax records, and news media reports, all of which in great detail went as far ahead as 2020. To his great surprise, Xander also noted a wide variety of items his future-cop memories told him were the tools of the trade hidden as much as possible in common 1997 forms. The materials were of future production, meaning stronger and lighter at the same time, with greater durability and nearly invisible to current detection devices.
"Wow, Selma, it looks like Darien really thought this out; I didn't really know if he'd exist anymore."
The AI noted the suppressed emotion, and nodded in empathy, "I understand Captain, but if Ethan Rayne of this 'real time' was able to be transported into the future, then the appropriate future would have to exist to receive him."
"Hmm, point taken…but still, it's good to know Darien's safe, you know?"
"Indeed Captain Alexander, indeed."
SHS Library, November 13th, 1997
"W-well, it does look like you're outfitted quite nicely," the Watcher remarked as the two teens explained their recent acquisitions. Thankfully, with them present and discussing things with him, Buffy's painfully loud techno aerobic music was kept relatively low for once. He was about to continue, when a sudden pounding on the door began.
Alexander rose and moved to the door, 'door alarm' in hand as he unlocked it and let in a man in a suit races in followed by a female corpse with the expected glowing eyes. Alexander trips the corpse and fires a heavy stun into it, not knowing exactly who or what his target was in that blink of an eye.
"Rupert!" the man called out, "It's Eyghon!"
"Good Lord! Phillip! Who? Dear Lord…is that…Deirdre?"
Buffy moved forward, ready to slice the corpse into pieces when Xander stayed her hand, "Buff, it's out for now, maybe Rupert has a better way to get rid of this thing that doesn't involve you and the mop."
"Why would I have to do clean up?"
"Well, you make a mess, and Rupert has guests, so…"
"Xander…that's so unfair…Willow, tell him it's unfair…" she mock pouted, causing her two recently-improved friends to smile fondly and laugh with her as Giles began catching up with 'Phillip.' They watched as the two men headed for the office.
"We're on the clock here, Giles, two hours minimum, if you don't discuss this in front of us; you already knew the deceased and the one running from him. Out here, I'll cut you a break, free for information."
"Two hours, then, Xander, but be careful not to let it get away."
The teens shrugged, Xander grabbing a couple of staves; he and Buffy proceeded to push the body behind the counter where it was less likely to be noticed if some other person came into the library.
About twenty minutes later, the two men came out of the office and walked over to the table, where Willow handed Giles a tentative bill for services.
Giles grimaced, but a still-jumpy Phillip nodded encouragingly at his old chum. Giles sighed and addressed his charges, handing the bill back to Willow, "Information it is, then…" and proceeded to tell them about the demon and the bad choices of his youth in that regard.
Alexander looked over to the counter, hearing movement, "So would this thing be able to do anything to you if removed the tattoos?"
"Yeah Giles," Buffy agreed, "Pay a couple hundred for some laser removal surgery?"
"Hmm, that might keep it from returning," Giles replied as Xander stunned it again, "But how to dispose of the demon itself?"
"Immersion in holy water?" Xander suggested, "If it's stuck surrounded with holy water before it can leap out, maybe it would kill the demon like dusting a vampire?"
Phillip nodded, "Quite a good idea, but where would we find that much holy water this time of night?"
Willow and Xander smiled at each other, and both replied as she handed the bill back to Giles, "we have it at the shop."
"Good Lord, why so much?" Giles asked, smiling wanly as he accepted the billing once more, "That's …"
"Enterprising of us, isn't it?" Xander finished for him with an amused look, "And we have it hooked into a misting and fire sprinkler system inside and on the exterior of the place; it'll keep the vampires out unless we want 'em there. Hmm, speaking of vamps…"
Alexander removed his cell phone and hit speed dial, "Angel? Can you drive over to the library? We have a demon-possessed corpse that needs moving to the store? Eyghon or something… okay, thanks."
Buffy gave Xander a look, "You're having Angel take the risks?"
"He's already dead, or undead, Buff. He's the least likely to have a problem actually touching and moving the thing. And he gets paid like any other subcontractor; we're not forcing him."
"Oh yeah…"
Twenty minutes later, Angel walked in, having parked close to the doors. He smiled at Buffy, then nodded as he approached his employers, "What do we have?"
"Eyghon's in back of the counter; drive it to the back door of the shop and we'll open it for you. We'll just have you set it on the edge of a tank of holy water we'll fill as you get there; we'll push it in and see if it ends this whole thing."
"Makes sense," the vampire replied, then put on gloves, noting the raised brows, "I don't want to get splashed when I get there…in case I forget."
They nodded at the sensible action as he reached behind the counter, where as he grabbed the body, it began to animate and thrash about. Angel grabbed its neck as Buffy raced over with her sword, stabbing Eyghon in hopes of killing or distracting; instead the body turned to goo as Angel began thrashing around, the back of his hand smacking the blonde slayer in the back of the head and rendering her unconscious. Xander waited to see what was happening, until suddenly, the form of Eyghon leapt out of Angel and back behind the counter.
"What the devil is happening!" Giles called out as he approached, seeing his slayer's eyes twitch and a sneer on her face as she from on her back threw herself up and onto her feet..
"Well Ripper, it looks like I'll have to take some of your friends from you before I take you and Philip," the possessed Slayer purred, lashing with a dropped staff toward Xander, who dodged it.
And into the chest of Angel, who didn't, and looked saddened and resigned as he dusted at the hands of his love.
Alexander fired heavy stun into the Slayer, who staggered, Giles moving in and striking the possessed girl on the head, finishing the task.
"Quick!" Phillip exclaimed, "Get her to that holy water you were talking about, and we might still save her Rupert!"
The men wrestled the unmoving Buffy to Angel's car, keys still in the ignition, as a sad and crying Willow swept Angel's ashes into an empty coffee can for later. The somber group made good time to the shop, and they tossed the blonde girl in before she could regain consciousness. Eyghon thrashed, sputtered, and died a dusty water-logged death as the strange mixture of magics, a pure possessing demon, residual chaos in the shop, and the Slayer Essence, thought to have been demonic warped to a holy cause, in the vicinity of a Hellmouth, brought an again-drowning Buffy to fall off the radar of existence for just a few seconds. And while in Boston, a girl suddenly found the strength to fend off the unwanted advances of some bikers that had taken a fancy to the recent runaway, a stunned and distraught Buffy realized that Angel had died by her hand.